It had been so many years since the Battle of Hogwarts and Draco Malfoy was truly glad of how things had turned out. He had been an idiot, a teenager wanting to prove himself to his father and show the world that he was more than just a snivelling brat. Of course, he really had just been a snivelling brat at the time. When he'd actually been given the Dark Mark he believed his Aunt Bellatrix, that it was an honor, that it proved the Dark Lord's faith in his abilities and that he would be able to restore the family name of Malfoy.
What a load of bull that had been.
After having been given the task to kill Albus Dumbledore, Draco hadn't wanted to go through with any of it. The subsequent actions that followed only reinforced that belief and by the time the Battle came around, Draco knew he had been on the wrong side. That was why he hadn't told them it was Granger and Weasley, with Potter, at the house. That was why when he found out that he could at least help repair the school with the Malfoy wealth he didn't complain. He thought that he should've gotten a harsher sentence. Community service hours, probation, and paying to fix the school just hadn't seemed like enough. But he did it, without a single complaint and he tried to become a better person from his experiences.
He'd returned to Hogwarts after the school was rebuilt to finish out his N.E.W.T.s and it was about as bad as he thought it would be. There were people blaming him, rightfully, and people who thought that he should be in Azkaban. But he pushed through it and out of all that he was able to at least apologize to the one person he'd wanted to most. It hadn't been much, just a simple 'I'm sorry' one day after Potions in Slughorn's class to Granger before rushing out to hide out in the library and keep his head down. He'd gotten his test scores as high as he wanted and was currently working in the Ministry in the Department of Mysteries while helping with some outside projects like an orphanage. He'd also learned quite a bit about muggles.
But then, only a few short months after returning year had been completed, Draco had started to feel quite a bit of pain from the Dark Mark. It was intense, and it truthfully scared the shit out of him. The last time it had burned like this was when the Dark Lord had been alive and there was just no possible way. Talking it over with a few other Death Eaters, he found that they were having the same issues. The pain came and went, sometimes causing him to buckle down and end up in the fetal position and others just a mild irritant on his skin. Draco never knew when it was coming and that was the worst part.
When Theodore Nott got married and said that the pain was gone, hadn't returned in six months, Draco wondered what the man had done for that to happen. When a few other Death Eater's he'd known also got married-all in magically binding marriages and most arranged-Draco knew what it was. The marriage. The Dark Lord had never understood the concept of love so love had to be the answer. Well, more specifically, the marriage contract. The binding of one magical witch or wizard to another had to supercede whatever curse the Dark Lord had put on the Dark Mark. But that meant Draco was out of bloody luck. He'd gone on a few dates, sure, but he hadn't really been interested in anyone. Definitely not enough to bloody marry one and he'd spurned his mother's attempts at an arranged marriage.
As a result, Draco took quite a bit of time to having a shot or two of firewhiskey at the Leaky Cauldron. Hannah Longbottom nee Abbott was a bartender there and she had forgiven him quite a bit quicker than others.
"What's goin' on Malfoy?" She asked in her regular cheerful voice as she poured him his first shot.
Draco shrugged. "Just had a long day at work." He answered absently.
Hannah raised an eyebrow at that. "You've been in here way too much for it to be a long day at work everyday. C'mon, Draco. What's really going on?" She sounded concerned and Draco felt a bit bad making his friend worry.
"Really, it's fine Hannah. I've just been having a hard time of things lately and I'm not sure what-if anything-I can do to make things better." He told her. "You know about the pain I've been having?"
"Yeah, Theo told me about it at first when he was in here trying to find others with the same...affliction." Hannah said carefully as her eyes darted to the Dark Mark.
Draco's grey eyes showed no mirth as he barked out a short laugh. "Affliction, that's one way to put it." He stayed silent for a few moments and held his hand out for another shot that he quickly downed. "Turns out that old Voldy had a backup plan in case he died. The noseless worm was going to take his bitches down with him." He put a hand over his face. "Seems the only way to not die is to get married."
"That shouldn't be an issue for you, you're attractive, intelligent, loaded." Hannah grinned. "Did you just come here to fish for compliments Malfoy cause Neville still has some devil's snare he can use on you if he thinks you're trying to steal me away," she told him in a teasing tone of voice.
Draco snorted. "I'm not going to steal anyone's wife." He told her as he took another shot and then leaned back a bit. "But really, I can't marry someone Hannah. I'd be dooming the poor woman to being stared at, ridiculed, called terrible things, and not to mention yeah I'm loaded but most people still think I'm a terrible man. There aren't many who forgive me. They see me as a loaded man that got off easy because of my age at the time." He sighed as he ran a hand through his silky blonde locks. "I'm good enough for a one night stand, but I'm not going to put a woman through that."
Hannah looked at Draco for a moment and then poured him a glass of water. "You know, you could just find a woman that's willing to put up with all of that. You're a pureblood. Don't your families usually have arranged marriages set up? Something that's mutually beneficial?"
Draco nodded. "I was supposed to marry Greengrass, but that ended right after sentencing. Which I was fine with. I'm sure Pansy would've loved to get her hands in me but I passed on that as well." He replied with a cheeky grin. "But I'm not sure there's any woman willing to put up with things like that for a man she doesn't love. No matter how much I might hope to find one."
"I know a woman that has been in the spotlight for a while. Marrying her, hell dating her, would help your family name out quite a bit. I also know that she's currently trying to fund about three different projects-which isn't going well-and that she's in over her head when it comes to some of the business aspects. Want me to set you two up on a blind date?" Hannah offered as she leaned onto the table and looked Draco in the eyes. "You would have to really trust me." She continued.
"What woman?"
"If I told you then it wouldn't be a blind date. She's beautiful, intelligent enough to keep up a conversation with you, and she's stubborn." Hannah continued with a sly grin. "She's not a blonde like the women you tend to be around but I'm sure you'd still find her attractive."
Draco pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment. "Alright, what can it hurt? Set us up for tomorrow night at seven. Here so I can hex you if it goes badly."
"Seven, tomorrow night it is." Hannah replied with a wide grin.
